Crime Blog

Fishy prison currency

Before smoking was banned from prisons, a pack of cigarettes was the favorite form of currency. Watch any prison movie and you’d see inmates trading smokes for favors or merchandise. But since smoking was banned a few years ago, fish has taken the place of cigarettes according to the Wall Street Journal .
Fish?
Apparently “there’s been a mackerel economy in federal prisons since about 2004,” former inmates and some prison consultants said. The WSJ backs up their comments with remarks from a mackeral supplier, who says the fish doesn’t sell well in the free world, but prison demand is up.

The phenomenon has yet to surface at Texas state prisons, says spokesman Jason Clark. Items more typically used for “trafficking and trading” are coffee, stamps, soups,and hygiene products.
And, Mr. Clark hastens to add, such trading is “against agency regulations,” and offenders are subject to disciplinary action.

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Criminal justice reporters, editors and invited guests provide news and analysis impacting Dallas-area police, courts, fire and other public safety issues and entities. Readers are encouraged to join the conversation.